


What’s the harm of a little excitement?

by ParisianAmour



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Jealous, gabenath, jealousgabe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22196890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParisianAmour/pseuds/ParisianAmour
Summary: At the first annual fashion show of the year Nathalie and Gabriel are very close friends but Nathalie feels like that’s  all that's going to happen, so she takes her chances when she needs a bit of excitement in her life when she falls for another PA. And quite literally fallsInspired by @tired_lavender216 on InstagramHer post on the 24 December 2019
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 73
Kudos: 126





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> These archive warnings are too extreme for my fic, they make it sound hectic 🙈

Today was going to be one of the most stressful days for Nathalie sancoeur, it would be as if she was reliving the final day of fashion week all over again. 

Today was the annual first major fashion show of the year, it was the biggest show featuring all of the greatest designers and their models and famous worldwide photographers, stage crew, judges and directors. 

Today was the day that capuldbmake or break anyone's career, luckily for Nathalie this would have been her tenth one, she had been through enough of these shows to know that you always had to be on high alert and be ready to do or direct anything that you are told by whoever it may be. 

Two years ago she remembered the terrible memory of being dragged on stage to say the opening speach of the day, because the main director had not arrived on time, before she knew it, she was handed a script and pushed out on stage because she was the closest to the front of the wings and was know by most people because she held a very high up position in the office of HR. 

She never wanted to relive that memory again, she wouldn't mind being behind the scenes if worst comes to worst, but she would prefer it if she could just stick to managing the models of the agreste line and making sure they looked catwalk worthy. 

That morning she had looked over her color coded schedule to refresh her mind, made sure her phone was on full charge and got into the shower, she needed to look her best, even though there was no way that this was going to break her career or friendship with Gabriel, she still had to look drop dead gorgeous. 

There were going to be so many famous designers and so many people there judging her every move. 

She had to put a good name in for the Gabriel brand and dress her part, she needed to look like the best dressed assistant there, and stand out among the rest. 

Instead of her normal formal pantsuit, Gabriel had custom made her a pair of wide leg paper bag pants that came down just below her ankles that pretty much looked like an ankle length skirt,with a piece of the same fabric threaded through belt loops, so she could tie up the pants to extenuate her curves,all made with a matte black,soft,flowing fabric, and a white silk collared shirt with long sleeves that she tucked in and tied the pants belt into a neat bow at the back. 

Because the pants came further down past her ankles she was pretty much forced to wear higher heels to what she was used to, she dug in her cupboard and found a pair black leather ankle strap heels that she hadn't worn since college. 

She made her way to her bathroom to sort out her hair and makeup. 

She applied her usual makeup with a little more mascara to make her eyes pop and tied her hair up in a half up half down style and secured it with two diamond encrusted bobby-pins. 

She grabbed her car keys and her bag and made her way down to her car. 

This years show was being held at the Louvre, unfortunately last year she had to drive all the way to Galeries LaFayatte to make sure she was on time for the first show that started at 8 am. 

It was a short drive to the venue but when she had got there she couldn't find any parking whatsoever, she had been driving around for ten or so minutes until she had given up and called Gabriel 

"Morning sir, yes, I can't seem to find any parking and I have 3 minutes to get to my venue"

"Morning Nathalie, if you come round the back, you can meet up with gorilla Adrien and I, and there is an empty space next to him"

"Thank you for the offer sir, but that's only for designers and directors"

"Oh no, don't worry, I'll make sure they let you in"

"Alright, if you say so, goodbye, see you in a few"

As she drove around the back she saw Gabriel, Adrien and gorilla all standing together by the back entrance, she drove up to the security gate and was let in immediately, once she had parked her car and met up with the agrestes that all made their way inside. 

"So adrien I'll need you to come with me to the changing rooms so you can change into the first Gabriel design of the day, and then from there onwards you will be escorted to hair and makeup and then taken through for rehearsal and then I shall meet you in the left wing before you start"

"Thank you Nathalie, goodbye father"

As they walked off Gabriel made his way off to the design room to order adriens outfits and make any last alterations before he steamed them down to make sure there were no creases or Lindt fuzz. 

Once Adrien had finished putting on his design he made his way off to get his hair and makeup up done, this was probably his worst part about modeling, he didn't like people touching his face, but he had to tolerate it all for his father. 

After Nathalie had dropped off Adrien in the changing rooms she had made her way through the many people and had gone to meet Gabriel in the design to room to assist with any problems he had. 

She had looked over her schedule and the show was due to start in 45 minutes, she needed to meet Adrien in the left wing behind the catwalk in half an hour. 

Knock knock

"Come in"

"Hello Gabriel, I've just come in to see if you need me to assist you with anything?"

"Thanks Nat, but don't worry, I'm alright I've just got to steam this suit and then we can make our way through to the main venue"

"Alright, I'm going to get a coffee, would you like one?"

"As a matter of fact, I would, thank you Nat"

Once Nathalie had got both of their coffees she had come back to join Gabriel and watched him work until it was time to go. 

Their relationship had definitely passed strictly business, but Gabriel wasn't aware of Nathalies feelings, and she was starting to accept that they would just stay very good friends and she was happy with that. 

But they both knew not to express any emotion other than strictly business and platonic feelings. 

They would only use Nat and Gabriel when they were the only people in a room other than that they would go by Nathalie and Sir. 

————————————————————————  
Thank you to everyone to reading, this is just a prologue so it's not very long or exciting but I am very excited to write this story and I'm excited to know what everyone thinks.  
💖


	2. Chapter 2

After they had both finished their coffees it was time to leave, Nathalie left to go off behind the catwalk and Gabriel left to go and sit down in the first row. 

As Nathalie was making her way down to the left wing she checked her watch and she had exactly 16 minutes until the show started, if Adrien was punctual he would be arriving in a minute. 

Unfortunately for Nathalie he didn’t arrive in the next minute, she waited around a little bit longer, she thought that his hair and makeup may be taking a little longer than expected. 

The show was meant to start in 7 minutes, she had to find him. 

She set off down through the wings Incase he had gotten muddled up, no sign of him there, she went back to the green room, no sign of him there, she made a brisk walk up to the hair and makeup rooms and pallors pushing past everyone who was making their way down to the catwalk, he was no where to be seen. 

She had 5 minutes until the show officially began, she started to jog back down to look for him again, back to the green room where there were only a few models waiting for their last show, she ran back to the catwalk as fast as she could, she had exactly 2 minutes until the show officially began. 

As she turned the corner to enter into the main building she suddenly ran into someone causing her to trip and fall over her own feet. 

Fortunately for her the stranger had good reflexes and had managed to catch her just in time before she hit the floor. 

She was a bit stunned as she looked up into the hazel eyes of a guy who didn’t look much older than she did and who had a head full of mousy brown hair. 

“I-I’m sorry, I need to find my model” she apologized out of breath

Before she could carry on, they heard a directors voice echo throughout the building announcing the first items of clothing and their designs, as Nathalie heard him say “Gabriel agreste” and introduce Adrien, it had felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. 

thank god he was there, she didn’t know how, but that didn’t matter anymore, he was there and the show had started without any fuss. 

“Sorry, are you alright miss?”

“Um... yes, yes I am, thank you...”

“Alexandre, Alexandre Stuart, personal assistant to Nicolas Ghesquière, the executive designer of Louis Vuitton”

“Nathalie Sancoeur, personal assistant to Gabriel Agreste, designer of Gabriel” she smiled. 

“What has you running around looking so frantic?”

“Well Adrien Agreste, one of the company’s models was late to meet me in his position, so I had to go look for him and I couldn’t find him anywhere and the show had exactly one minute to go before it started, but it looks like he made it there alright,I’m sorry, I should have watched where I was going”

“Oh no worries Nathalie, I usually have women falling for me everyday, quite literally” he joked. 

“I didn’t mean to, it was an accident!” She protested as she poked him in the chest. 

“Don’t worry darling, I’m just teasing you” he said as he leaned in closer to her. 

“Hmm whatever. Well I’m going to make my way to my seat.  
Goodbye “

“Goodbye Nathalie, see you soon” he said as he made his way to his seat. 

Once Nathalie had reached her seat next to Gabriel she had told him what had happened and he had apologized for the inconvenience. 

As she had settled down she saw someone coming her way, it was Alexandre. 

As he made his way to his seat he realized that he was seated right next to Nathalie, lucky for him. 

“What a coincidence” he whispered as he winked when he sat down. 

Nathalie gave him a little side glance and turned her full attention back to the models. 

After the first quarter of the show was finished, the models were taken back to get their hair and makeup retouched and done again and they were all to be given their second outfit of the day. 

Once Nathalie had dropped off Adrien she went back to sit down in her seat, once she had gotten there she realized that Gabriel wasn’t there, he had probably gone to the bathroom or gone around to double check the Gabriel line that was coming in now. 

She had sat down and taken out her phone to check any emails or messages. 

She was going through her schedule of the day when she had felt a tap on her shoulder. 

She turned around to her left and there was Alexandre staring into her deep blue eyes. 

She had to admit he was quite good looking, but there was still part of her that wanted Gabriel. 

“Watcha doing?”

“Reading emails and being bothered by you” she retorted back. 

“Ouch, I was just asking!”

“And I was just giving you an answer”

“Fine you got me there, so tell me what a beautiful woman like you is doing as an assistant?”

“Well I used to model back in my high school and college years but then I had a lot of family trouble and I was on my last leg until Mr. Agreste hired me, I had always wanted to be in some kind of aspect of fashion and I needed the money, so I took it “

“Well then care to join me on a fashion filled day around Paris my dear?”

As Nathalie looked over Alexandres shoulder she saw Gabriel heading this way, the second quarter was about to start in a minute. 

“I’m alright thank you”  
She said as Gabriel sat down. 

“Made a new friend I see”

“Not really sir, just acquaintances, when I was running around looking for Adrien I tripped and he caught me from falling over onto my face and risking breaking my glasses and, or my nose” she said trying to hide a light blush. 

“Hmm I see, well if you don’t feel comfortable, just tell me” he said as he shot Alexandre a dirty look , fortunately he didn’t see because his head was turned to his boss whilst they talked. 

That look, could only mean one thing, and that was pure jealousy.


	3. Chapter 3

Once the second quarter of the show had began Nathalie wasn’t really paying attention, she was thinking of what would happen if she took Alexandre up on his offer and got to know him. 

She knew that Gabriel and her were very close friends but ever since they had fixed the miraculous he had stopped his affection and didn’t touch her as much, she missed his soft caresses on her cheeks or the way he looked into her eyes with concern and sympathy. 

She was pulled out of her train of thought when she felt a hand brush up against hers. 

Alexandre had moved his arm onto the armrest and brushed Nathalies hand and had given her a wink. 

This was her decision, she could reject him and lose her chance or she could accept his offer and maybe have a bit of fun, maybe he would turn out to be a horrible stuck up jerk or he could turn out to be the most kind and caring guy she had ever met. 

Once the second quarter had finished she made her way backstage to find Adrien again and to give him his schedule for the next quarter performance, she saw Alexandre doing the same with his model. 

“Alright Adrien, once you have gone to get changed, gorilla will take you to a different stylist for hair and then back to the same one for makeup and then he will bring you back here, where you will be expected to meet me”

“Alright, thank you Nathalie, see you soon”

As Nathalie was walking out of the main building she started to feel hungry, this interval was an hour so she had plenty of time to go across the street and grab a bite to eat. 

She walked out into the front hall, grabbed her coat and just before she walked out she heard running footsteps and a male voice call her name. 

It was Alexandre. 

She didn’t know how she felt about him yet. 

Should she invite him for lunch?

“hey Nat, where you going?”

Gabriel was the only person who ever called her Nat, she kind of liked how it sounded coming from him. 

She took her chance. 

It was now or never. 

“Hey Alexandre, well I was just going to grab a bite to eat, would you um... like to join ... me?”

“Sure thing Nat, where would you like to go?”

“S-surprise me” (wait what, why am I stuttering all of a sudden?!) she questioned herself. 

They were walking down the street in complete silence until Alexandre held the small of her back and guided her down the street to a little cafe. 

The cafe was called La Vie en Rose Patisserie. 

They walked inside and were greeted with the sweet smell of raspberries and sugar. 

The tables where very old fashioned and the chairs were covered in green or pink velvet with white fluffy cushions. 

The cafe had the light sound of Edith Piaf French cafe music playing in the background accompanied with the light clinking of cutlery. 

They were both taken to a table in the corner and given their menus. 

“It’s beautiful in here” Nathalie exclaimed 

“Well a beautiful women only deserves the best” he said as Nathalie tried to hide her blush. 

She liked him, she knew deep down that she was starting to fall for the man who caught her falling backstage. 

They both ordered their treats and began talking. 

“So Nat, have you changed your mind about my offer?”

“Well Alexandre, i May have changed my mind, but let me think about it a little bit more and I’ll tell you when I’m ready”

“Well then in that case, if you are not ready by today, we won’t see eachother until next months show, so why don’t we exchange numbers?”

This was progressing quite fast, Nathalie was taken back by his extreme amounts of confidence, but she had found it quite admirable. 

She was ready for this, if Gabriel didn’t reciprocate her feelings, let alone know about them what was the harm of a little excitement in her life. 

They exchanged numbers just as their food arrived. 

Nathalie had ordered a double espresso with a raspberry tart and Alexandre had ordered a mocha with a chocolate croissant. 

They carried on talking about their childhood and getting to know each other better as they ate. 

After half an hour Nathalie had checked her phone for the time and they had twenty minutes until the show started up again. 

it had taken them a good ten minutes to walk here, so they would have needed to start heading back sooner or later. 

“We have around about twenty minutes until the third quarter starts up and it took us just over ten minutes to walk here, so why don’t we pay and head back?”

“Sure thing, I’ll pay and meet you outside”

“Nope, I’ll pay for my own food thank you very much” she said as they got up and headed toward the counter. 

“Not if I do it first!” Alexandre said as he put down their orders exact amount plus a ten percent added tip for the waiter, all in cash and before Nathalie could protest he had grabbed her around the waist and led her out of the cafe. 

“Why are men always so stubborn?!” She said with a playful pout. 

“Why cant women accept that there are still gentleman out there who like to pay for their ladies meals”

“Alright alright, but thank you anyway, I enjoyed this afternoon”

“Thank you Nat for the invitation, I was happy to get to know you better and to get your number”

“Me too, it’s nice to know that there are still gentlemen out there” she said as she didn’t bother hiding her blush. 

As they reached the entrance to the louvre they stopped right outside the door and Alexandre turned Nathalie around to face him. 

“Aww aren’t you cute Nathalie, if I’m such a gentlemen should I not earn a reward” he said pointing to his lips. 

“Ah Ah Ah “ she said as she playful flicked his nose and made her way to the doors. 

Just as they were about to enter the main building to the stage,she leaned up on her tip toes and gave him a peck on the cheek, and left him standing there as she sauntered off backstage.


	4. Chapter 4

Once they had both walked inside the main building and met up with their companies respective models, they made their way back from backstage and to their seats. 

As Nathalie passed Alexandre, he had cast her a sweet smile paired with a flirtatious wink. 

As they arrived at their seats Nathalie could see Gabriel was already seated and so was Alexandres boss, Nicolas Ghesquière. 

Once the show had begun Nathalie had started to zone out once again. 

She had thought back to her lunch with Alexandre, and had thought how wonderful it had been with someone really paying full attention to her and giving their utmost attention and care. 

She missed those time where Gabriel would to the same. 

No. 

She had to move on. 

Yes, Gabriel had given her affection, but he hadn’t gone as far as Alexandre. 

She was finally starting to realize how she felt. 

She had fallen for Alexandre. 

Yes they had only known each other for 6 hours but that didn’t matter. 

If she knew love when she saw it, she knew that Alexandre had developed feelings for her. 

This was her decision. 

She had decided to take her chance and go for the gentleman who reciprocated her affections. 

Maybe she could finally have some fun outside of work and go for romantic dinners in the night lights of Paris, and she would be able to have someone to talk to for the oncoming shows. 

This was going to be amazing. 

But before she could finish her day dreaming she had been pulled from out of her head by Gabriel, who was whispering in to her ear on how terrible the choice of color on one of the models had been and how it completely clashed with their skin tone and the accessories. 

She had to stifle a small giggle because of this. 

At least he was enjoying himself by making fun of the other designers clothing. 

It was time for the agreste line to come onto the runway. 

She could feel that Gabriel was tense, but To be brutally honest with herself, Nathalie would have to admit she felt rather tense as well. 

Until she felt a warm touch to her left hand. 

She glanced over to her left just as Alexandre had linked their two pinkie fingers together and gave her hand a little squeeze. 

As Nathalie squeezed back she looked right up into his hazel eyes, before turning her head back to the runway but still leaving their fingers intertwined. 

She could feel her heart beating like a drum inside of her chest. 

She was the best show she had ever been to. 

Once the third quarter had cone to a close Nathalie untangled her fingers and gave Alexandre an apologetic look as she walked over to Gabriel. 

Once they were in the hall, Gabriel had given Nathalie a bit of a puzzled look. 

She had said that nothing was happening between this Louis Vuitton PA. 

But the odds were stacked against that, he had seen the way she blushed, the way they looked into each others eyes. 

And Gabriel knew. 

Those were the looks, the looks he gave Nathalie everyday whilst she was using the miraculous. 

But once they had fixed it, she had started drifting from him, he missed touching her and being able to hold her in his arms. 

If only he had had the guts to tell her then, that he had fallen head over heels for her. 

But now, it looked like she was taken and long gone, completely out of his reach. 

“Goodbye sir, I’m going backstage to inform Adrien of the last quarters schedule”

“Alright Nathalie, I shall meet you back at our seats in the next 45 minutes”

“Thank you sir” she says as she turned around in her heel and left to go backstage. 

Once she had gotten there she called Adrien over, and as she was talking to him she glanced to her right and saw Alexandre looking straight at her. 

As soon as she saw him she put her head back down to face Adrien as she gave him the last of his scheduled times. 

Once he had walked off with some of his modeling friends, Nathalie had turned around expecting to walk round to Alexandre but instead she was met with his gorgeous hazel eyes a few inches apart. 

She had to do a bit of a double take because he was so close. 

She could feel his breathing traveling down her neck, he smelt like chocolate and fresh mint. 

It was intoxicating. 

He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowds of people until they arrived back outside the doors to the main building. 

“So Nat, we have 38 minutes, what do want to do” he asked as he checked his watch. 

“Bold of you to assume that I want to do anything or that I don’t have work to do now” she said she she folded her arms over her chest and stuck her nose up into the air. 

“O-oh um... I-I’m terribly sorry Nat, I’ll take you back inside immediately”

“No silly, I’m messing with you, I have a whole 37 minutes free!   
Now, how about we take a walk,we’ve pretty much been sitting for the last 10 hours anyway”

“Well then, off we go. Where to?”

“Wherever the road takes us”

As they were walking it was starting to get a bit cold. 

It was the middle of winter but Nathalie had made sure to bring her coat, but even that wasn’t keeping her warm enough. 

Her teeth started to chatter and her knuckles started to turn white. 

“You alright?”

Yes, I’m f-f-fine” she shivered. 

So much for trying to hide it. 

“Aw Nat, you’re cold, here” he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly to his body. 

“Come, why don’t we stop for coffee and try to warm you up a bit?”

“Sure thing, there’s a place just round the corner here, but we’ll have to get it to go, otherwise we won’t make it back in time”

“Just to let you know I’m still paying this time”

“Um no your not, you paid last time, I’m paying now and that’s final” she said giving him an icy cold stare. 

“Alright fine, but if there is going to be a next time I’m paying”

“Hey, do you what,I think there will definitely be a next time”

“Really?”

“Definitely” she said, as they bought their coffees and walked back with their hands intertwined.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey I’m sorry that we didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, I still needed to help pack away the Gabriel line and I was getting cold so I wanted to get home as fast as I could, I’m sorry”

“Hey Nat, it’s nothing to worry about, we still have the next show in a week and a half, I’ll see you there, if not before”

“Well you know what,How about before, I’m not in the mood to do anything now, but why don’t you come over tonight and we can watch some movies or start a series together on Netflix?”

“ I’d love that, I’ll see you later then,and don’t forget to send me your address”

“Sure thing, I won’t, bye”

“Bye Nat”

As she put the phone down, she nearly exploded with excitement. 

This was finally happening. 

Her and Alexandre were finally kicking it off. 

Tonight would be the night. 

The night where it all began. 

She needed to clean her apartment, whatever neatness she had at work obviously was never bought back home. 

Her apartment had coffee mugs lying about everywhere, socks and shoes sprawled out on the carpet and papers from files filled with documents and PDFs all over every single one of her surfaces. 

She had to clean it all up right now. 

But first she had to send him her address. 

After a while of cleaning up she heard the doorbell ring. 

It must be Alexandre. 

"Shit, shit, shit he can't be here now!" She said as she scrambled up to try and at least neaten the piles of papers on her table and counter top. 

The doorbell rang again for the second time. 

It was no use now, she had to open up. 

"Hey Alexandre!" She said awkwardly. 

"Hello Nat" he said as he enveloped her into a tight embrace. 

As he pulled back he held her by her shoulders and gave her a once over and stared into her turquoise eyes. 

"Nat, are you alright? You're all hot and flustered"

"Me, pft... I'm absolutely great" she said as she tried to hide the fact that she was practically out of breath from running around trying to clean everything up before he arrived. 

"If you say so. So am I allowed to come inside, or are we going to watch a movie out in the hallway?"

"Oh, um sorry, I was just trying to clean everything up but I still haven't finished stacking and cleaning up my papers, but it's fine, make yourself at home, the remotes are in the left drawer down there,I'm just going to finish this" she said as she showed him inside and walked back to her counter top and began sorting out her files into alphabetical order of most to the least important. 

As she was cleaning up her papers she suddenly felt a pair muscular arms snake around her waist from behind, and as she let out a small gasp,she felt alexandres chin nuzzle into her neck. 

"How about we come back to that later, let's just relax for once in our lives and enjoy each others company"

Nathalie let out a small hum of agreement as she leaned back into his chest and tilted her head back to face his. 

" come with me" she whispered as she pulled his hand to the door and down the hallway to the stairs. 

"Where are we going Nat?"

"Somewhere special"

As they both come to the top of the stairs, Nathalie let go of his hand and reached up to open the trapdoor leading out onto the roof of the apartment building. 

Once she had climbed out on top she signaled for him to come up and join her. 

As he was walking across the rooftop he saw that Nathalie had perched herself at the edge of the roof and was looking out onto the sea of lights. 

As he slowly made his way over to her, he could faintly hear her humming a soft tune as she pulled out her hair and let it blow around in the light breeze as it fell onto her shoulders and framed around her face. 

As he came up behind her, she ended off her tune with a small quick note and turned around to face up to him. 

She gave him a sweet smile as she patted the concrete next to her, signaling for him to come and join her. 

As he sat down he looked over the edge of the building and realized that it was a long way down. 

He wasn't particularly fond of heights. 

So he decided to just sit cross legged on the edge instead of letting half his body hang off of it. 

"Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, just a-a little afraid of h-heights"

"Oh, don't worry, trust me, you can hold my hand if you'd like, I won't let you fall"

As he grasped her hand he couldn't help but look down and see the cars rushing around below them. 

"Don't look down, look at me" she said as she put a finger delicately under his chin and guided his face over to look at hers. 

As she turned his face he immediately looked deep into her eyes. 

They were just like the ocean, so deep and blue and hidden with mystery. 

As he bent over to sit down he had completely forgotten about his fear, he didn't feel scared at all, in fact he felt totally care free. 

Once he had sat down and cautiously swung his legs over the edge, he still hadn't broken eye contact with her. 

Until Nathalie slowly turned away and edged closer to him so she was able to lean her head up against his shoulder. 

"It's beautiful out here" he exhaled. 

"It's one of my favorite places to be, I come here when I just need to clear my head and be quiet,like after a long, hard, stressful day of working or like dealing with mr agrestes bullshit"

He chuckled at her snarky remark

"So Nat, do you have an answer for me about my offer?"

"Yes, yes I do. I would like to go out with you on a fashion inspired day around Paris Alexandre!" She exclaimed with joy. 

"Wonderful, when would you like to do it?"

"How about tomorrow, its a Saturday anyway, you could just sleep here and then we can pop over to your apartment in the morning to grab your clothes and anything else you'll need"

"Wow Nat, you're taking this fast!"

" wha-! I wasn't intending for us to do anything!"

"I was teasing, darling, relax" he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. 

He was now cross legged and had moved a lot further away from the edge of the building. 

He still couldn't bare the heights for too long. 

"So then, its a date"

"Yes it is" she said as she turned her head to look at him, face to face. 

"You're beautiful Nat"

"I... uh.."

"No, I really mean it, you are so gorgeous, inside and out, no wonder I wanted to take you out"

"I'm happy I accepted, I think I have just made one of the best decisions I could have ever asked for"

"I don't think, I know, that I have met one of the best women ever, who I really am infatuated with and I can't wait to spoil her everyday"

"All I can say is Thank you Alexandre" she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and they fell into a comfortable, loving embrace.


	6. Chapter 6

After a while it had started to get cold out on the rooftop. So the pair had decided to move back inside where it was a lot warmer and felt cozy. 

Once they arrived back into Nathalie's apartment Nathalie had gone to her bedroom and grabbed blankets and extra pillows for their movies and or series night. 

After she had dumped the bundle of blankets and pillows down onto the couch she made her way to the kitchen with Alexandre on her tail. 

"If you'd like to change you are more than welcome to, I have an old box of oversized T-shirts from Gabriel that I may as well put to use and I think I still have samples of the Men's winter collection, in the bottom of that box you should be able to find a few pairs of sweatpants" she said as she pointed to the cupboards. 

" aww, thank you Nat, aren't you sweet" he said as he walked past her and have her a peck on the cheek and went to go look through the boxes. 

"It's nothing, and I'm sorry, there's not much in the pantry for food, but I can always get us takeout?"

"Alright, I'm not fussed. Darling, where is the bathroom? I would like to go and change" he said as he held a pair of sweat pants, a Gabriel t- shirt and an extra jersey that he had probably also found in the bottom of the sample box. 

"To the left, and then take a right, I'm going to order Chinese, is that good?"

"It's great" he said as he smiled and walked off down into the bathroom. 

Once Nathalie had ordered their Chinese and sent her card details through, she made her way into her room to find something comfortable to wear. 

After the pair had finished getting dressed they had both met in the lounge and stopped dead still and stared with deep red blushes covering their faces. 

As Nathalie gawked at Alexandre, she had never seen him like this, he always looked so formally dressed and professional, but now he looked even more breathtaking. 

He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that had the Gabriel logo embroidered onto one of the pockets paired with a black Gabriel t-shirt that had the logo printed on the back. 

What made him even hotter was that he wore a round pair of glasses to complete his relaxed look. 

"You look cute" Nathalie said as she tapped him on the nose. "I like the glasses"

"Oh, these, well I only wear them when I'm at home and not at the office, contact lenses get tiring after a while"

"Hence why I still wear my frames!" She said as she pointed up up to her glasses. 

" well Nat, you don't look to bad yourself" he said as he raises his eyebrows and licked his lips. 

She was wearing a pair of black sweatpants with the Gabriel logo sewn down the side seams with a lilac t-shirt that has the Gabriel logo embroidered in white on the pocket. 

She had her hair down and her glasses where a big askew. 

He reached up to straighten them but was interrupted by the doorbell. 

"Oh, sorry, I'll get it" she said as she straightened her glasses and made her way to the door to collect their food. 

But to her surprise it wasn't the delivery man, it was none other than Gabriel Agreste. 

"Um... good evening sir" she said, raising her voice when she said sir to alert Alexandre. 

"What brings you here so late on a Friday night?"

"Well I saw that you had left your tablet and one of your files, labeled GHI, so I just came here to return it to you before the weekend"

"Mmhm, that explains it, thank you" she said as she took the files and tablet. 

"Enjoy your weekend, sir" she said as she reaches for the door handle. 

"Just then, of course, Alexandre had to have tripped over the edge of the couch and landed with a thump and had made such a masculine growl. 

"Nathalie, is there someone in here?!" He said as he put his hand on her door. 

"Nope, there's no one here, it's probably just the wind blowing all of the trees"

"If you say so "

"Good evening sir, enjoy your weekend"

"Thank you Nathalie, you to" he said as he walked off down the corridor to the parking lot. 

As he was making his way down, he passed a man who was carrying 4 boxes of Chinese food, he asked Gabriel whether he knew where apartment number 435 was, that was Nathalie's apartment. 

If Gabriel knew his assistant well, he knew that she would never eat 4 boxes of Chinese. 

If his speculations where correct, he bet that the guy who she claimed was only an acquaintance was there with her, in her apartment. 

He had seen them walking around together and smiling and the guy who was with her even had the nerve to wink at her every now and then, he even swore that at the end of the show he saw their hands fall out of each other's grasp as they left the main building. 

And if he had at least a semi decent vision he had sworn to god that he saw a faint lip stick outline on this mans left cheek. 

He didn’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly. 

Maybe she was having friends over, or maybe she would freeze the rest. 

But, oh god, did he hope that it wasn’t some PA to the head designer of Louis Vuitton. 

“I mean who puts gold on brown in the first place” he whispered to himself. 

Once Nathalie had shut the door to her apartment and gone back to her lounge, she found Alexandre sitting in what looked like a literal birds nest. 

He had taken every single one of the pillows and blankets and made them into an enormous nest like arrangement. 

“Sorry, it wasn’t the food,it was Gabriel, he came to drop off my missing files and tablet. 

“Well then if the food hasn’t arrived yet, why don’t you come and join me and get comfortable?”

As Nathalie made her way over to Alexandre and the nest on her couch the doorbell rang. 

“Oh well, that’s probably the food”

As Nathalie made her way to the door and collected their food she went off to her kitchen to grab a battle of wine. 

“Would you like some?”

“Of course I would Nat”

After Nathalie had bought everything to their nest she sat down and got comfortable before passing Alexandre his food and before grabbing hers off of the coffee table.


	7. Chapter 7

Once they had finished their food and had been sitting in their nest watching movies for a while, Nathalie had began to feel a little bit tired. 

Her eyelids started to to feel heavy and she tried as hard as she could to keep them open, but it was no use. 

After a few minutes had passed she had completely fallen asleep with her head rested on Alexandres shoulder. 

Alexandre had noticed this and he didn’t really feel like moving too much, Incase he woke her up. 

So he switched the television off, lay down properly on the sofa and lifted Nathalie up a bit to lie with him. He rested Nathalies head on his chest whilst he wrapped his arms around her waist. 

He took off both of their glasses and rested them on the coffee table, before lying back down comfortably. 

Before he dozed off, he looked at Nathalies face, admiring her beauty and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead as he fell asleep with a smile across his face.  
—————-

In the morning once Nathalie had woken up, she had opened her eyes to find that she was lying on something that didn’t even feel, remotely like her bed or her couch. 

After a while, she realized what it was, she realized that she had slept on Alexandres chest, whilst he held onto her in a tight embrace all throughout the night. 

As Nathalie looked up into his face she saw that he was still fast asleep, she didn’t want to disturb him, so she just lay her head back down and drifted off, back to sleep. 

Once Alexandre had woken up, he looked down to see Nathalie fast asleep breathing deeply, she looked so lovely, even with her bed head,he ran his fingers through Nathalies blue-black locks and In doing so, he made her shift around into a more comfortable position. 

He loved this woman, he loved her with all his heart, today was going to be the day that he told her his true feelings, today was the day that he would hopefully start a wonderful relationship with an amazing woman. 

“Nat, Nathalie... wake up” he whispered, no response “ Nathalie sancoeur, mr agreste is calling you!” 

“I’m up!” She said as she frantically ran to her phone to see that no one had called her. 

She looked over to Alexandre who was trying to hide a mischievous smirk. 

She gave him a death glare before jumping onto the couch and tackling him to the floor. 

“You gave me such a fright! it’s a Sunday, why would he call me, he’d only call if there was an emergency!” She said as she pinned him down by his arms. 

“Aww, I’m sorry Nat, but I couldn’t let you sleep for too long, we have an entire day ahead of us” he said just as he flipped her over and pinned her down. 

Once their childish banter and laughing had quieted down, everything just went silent. 

It felt like everything had just stopped, they were both as silent as can be, all you could hear was their heavy hot breathing. 

Before any of them could get a word in edgewise, Nathalie suddenly had a burst of courage. 

Before Alexandre could react, Nathalie had managed to untangle herself from his grasp and in one swift movement, she reached up and grabbed his face and pulled him down into a sweet kiss. 

It was long, but not long enough, they both secretly wanted more. 

"I-I'm sorry, I should have asked or announced myself"

"Wow"

"Wha-"

Alexandre had pulled Nathalie back in for another kiss, this time was with a lot more passion and was filled with certainty. 

Once they had broken apart for air, with their lips just millimeters away from each other, Alexandre picked Nathalie up and took her to her room. 

"Why don't you get ready, my Nathalie?"

"S-sure" she said, still stunned by their little escapade in the lounge. 

"And maybe, if you don't take too long, we can pick up from where we left off" Alexandre smiled as he tilted her chin up with his index finger before giving her a quick peck and left Nathalie standing there, looking flabbergasted as he ran out into the corridor \-----------  
Once Nathalie had showered, she walked into her closet to pick a nice outfit for a cold winters day in the heart of Paris. 

After rummaging around for a while. She managed to put together a black polo neck jersey and a pair of jeans with a long beige coat and ankle boots in a matte black color. 

And to bring the look together she picked out her favorite Gabriel handbag. 

She had decided to leave her hair down today and apply a simple but affective look with her makeup. 

She decided to do a small cat-eyed liner with a dust of a nude pink to her lids and a nude colored lip to go with it. 

Once she had given herself a once over in the mirror she hung up her towels and made her way through to the lounge. 

"Ready to go?"

"Ye- oh wow, you look stunning!"

"It's just simple, that's all. Come on,let's get you home to change and be on our way, I don't know about you but I need breakfast and a hot cup of coffee"

"Agreed, but first-" he gave her a quick kiss as he grabbed her hand and grabbed his keys as they ran down to the parking lot to his car. 

Once they had gotten inside his warm car they drove off to his apartment. 

As he parked his car in the underground parking he showed her to the elevator. 

"So, I have a little surprise for you, but you'll have to wait until four thirty this afternoon, so we can go around to some places before I take you on your little surprise, how about that?" He said as they arrived at his apartment. 

"It's perfect, now go get dressed" she said as she flicked his nose and pushed him in direction of what seamed to be his bedroom. 

After he had showered he picked out a pair of jeans with a white knit jersey and a similar coat to Nathalie, but just a bit shorter and paired it with a Burberry scarf and brown boots with one of his black Louis Vuitton bags to go with it. 

Once he was done he turned to his mirror,winked and walked out into the lounge. 

" well aren't you handsome" Nathalie smirked as she walked over to him and hugged him. 

" you know what?, I think I love you" she whispered. 

" well, I know I love you" he said as he placed a kiss on her hair as they made their way back down into the car. 

"Where to?"

"Well I was thinking we go to Musée de la Mode et du Textile inside the Louvre"

"Perfect, lead the way" she said as he parked his car, took her hand in his and walked inside. 

As they made their way to the exhibition Alexandre was explaining the history behind it all. 

"this collection is centered around textile and fashion and boasts an impressive collection of each, ranging from as far back as the 7th century"

"You know, you could definitely have a side job here" Nathalie teased. 

"Well thank you, I am happy to be your guide today mademoiselle" he said as he gently lifted up her hand  
and gave it a kiss. 

Once they had finished at their first destination, they drove down to a little cafe and grabbed coffees and pastries and were back on the road in minutes. 

Their second stop had been at Boulevard Saint-Germain. 

As they walked inside it was mesmerizing, it was one of the most high-ended fashion stores on the left bank on 7th street. 

They both had enjoyed it a lot. 

Their third and final stop until they made their way to a late lunch, was  
Galerie LaFayette. 

"This gorgeous art nouveau building is a renowned icon in itself. Tourists come from far and wide just to observe the structure of the space and the impressive infrastructure dating back to 1912.  
But once we get inside Galerie LaFayette, architecture takes a back seat and fashion becomes the main focus of the space. This upmarket department store is a fashion lovers paradise and is often referred to as the ultimate shopping destination"

"It's beautiful, I love it here!"

"Nearly as beautiful as you" he teased. 

"Come on, lets go inside "

After they had finished their sightseeing and shopping they made their way down to a restaurant that was filled with warm aromas. 

As they sat down they were served promptly and had easily placed their orders. 

Once their food had arrived and they had eaten, they laid the bill and left. 

It was already 3:57. 

Alexandres surprise started at 4:30. 

Once they had walked back to the car Alexandre had dug into his bag, found what he was looking for and turned to Nathalie. 

"So Nat, as I mentioned earlier, I have a surprise for you, close your eyes and hold put your hands"

"Demanding aren't we" she chuckled 

As he placed her surprise in her hands he checked the time, 4:06. 

"Open your eyes"

As she opened her eyes she realized that she had a piece of paper with the Louis Vuitton logo on the right hand side. 

"So for your surprise, I managed to snag two front row seats for the Louis Vuitton Men's winter collection 2020!, it starts at 4:30"

"You didn't!"she said with disbelief " this is amazing!, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you!" She squealed as she pulled him in for a warm kiss. 

"Well then, let's get going"


	8. Chapter 8

Once they had arrived inside, Nathalie was taken back. 

The catwalk had been set up to look like the inside of a seamstress' studio and all of the outfits were inspired by aspects of the sky. 

The show was amazing, it had made Nathalie feel happy and stress free. 

After the show she was able to meet Alexandres boss, who was the head designer for the company and she even got to meet a few of the models that were some of Alexandres close friends. 

Once the had finished meeting people and introducing themselves, they made their way back to the car to drive home. 

"Hey Nat, I really hoped you enjoyed today, I'm excited for our next one, and maybe if we are lucky I could find us another show to go to?"

"That would be amazing, but I think it's time for me to pay and be in charge of the next date "she smiled. 

"Well then, how about you come stay with me tonight and then I can take you and pick you up from work tomorrow, we can go back to your apartment and grab any essential items you need and then go back to mine?"

"That sounds great, but just letting you know, I'm a totally different person on a Monday morning"

"Oh well then, that makes two of us"

"I love you"

"I love you more Alexandre"

They said as they joined in a sweet lip lock inside the car.

"Come now, lets stop to grab your clothes and then we can order out again tonight, because between you and me, I can't cook to save my life"

"Oh well then, I guess we are living off of take out for the rest of our lives"  
\---------------

As they arrived at Nathalie's apartment they took the elevator up to her floor and into her apartment. 

"Do you mind of you could please grab those files and my tablet on the counter there, the charger is on the shelf above the books"

"Sure thing, darling"

"Thank you, give me five minutes and I'll be done and ready to go"

"Take your time, love"

She blew him a kiss before disappearing behind her door to her bedroom. 

Once she had packed, they made their way down to the car park and drove off. 

After they had arrived at Alexandres apartment, he had taken her stuff for her, after listening to her protests, and carried it to his bedroom and put it next to the left side of the bed. 

"What do you want to eat?"

"Well we had Chinese last night so why don't we just get pizza and watch a movie tonight, and I'm paying tonight "

"Alright, I'm just going to change into comfortable clothes and the I'll meet you in the lounge"

"See you in a bit"

"Wait hold on, where do you keep your blankets?"

"I'm the cupboards before you enter the lounge"

"Perfect, see you in a bit"

Once they and both changed into sweatpants and hoodies and gotten ready for bed. 

Alexandre had already ordered their respective pizzas and was waiting on the couch for Nathalie. 

Nathalie was in the bathroom washing off her makeup and reflecting on the day she had just had. 

-“it’s been a wonderful day, and I know I love Alexandre, this is everything I ever wanted, but I did imagine all of it with Gabriel, I still feel like I’m almost betraying him. 

If he doesn’t reciprocate your feelings you aren’t betraying him”- she told herself. 

-“ you can’t keep on hoping that one day he will suddenly think of you and look at you completely differently. 

Stop living your life in hope, you have an amazing guy who is waiting for you on his couch and who has taken you all around Paris for the best day you could have ever wanted and he has probably been the best thing that has ever happened to you since starting to work for Gabriel

Right that’s settles it, forget Gabriel once and for all”

Once she had finished giving herself a pep talk she walked out into the lounge and sat down with Alexandre. 

"I just wanted to say thank you for today, thank you so much, I absolutely loved it, it was everything I have ever wanted"

"It was my pleasure Nat, and I want you to know that I would go to the ends of the earth for you. 

You are amazing, and I love you with all my heart, you have brought out the best in me and given me the best two weeks I have ever had for a while. 

Thank you, my darling Nathalie"

"I love you Nat"

"But I love you more"

"But I love you most" he said as he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. 

Nathalie knew she had made the best decision. 

She knew that they had finally taken off and were going to be official at the end of the night. 

This feeling of pure bliss was amazing, she felt completely settled and happy. 

Tomorrow would be the first Monday where she'd be happy to be at work. 

After a while the kiss had started to become more desperate as time went on, but before they could go any further, they heard a knock on the door. 

It was the delivery guy. 

As Nathalie untangled herself from on top of Alexandre, he made his way to the door and handed the delivery guy a strip of cash and made his way over to the couch, where he handed Nathalie her pizza as he sat back down in a bundle of blankets and pillows. 

"Hey, I think we should have a fairly early night, we've had a busy weekend and we have work tomorrow, and I don't know about you, but if I look remotely tired, Gabriel is going to ask all sorts of questions, and he knows when I'm lying"

"Fair enough, how about we watch a movie and get into bed around eleven, it's quarter past nine now anyways"

"Perfect! so what are we going to watch?"

"Why don't we start a series, a bunch of colleagues at work have suggested The Crown, but I've never had the effort to try, what do you think?"

"What a coincidence, I was meaning to start that sooner or later!"

"Well then, The Crown it is"

Once they had finished their food, they discarded their rubbish and made themselves comfortable in each other's embrace on the coach. 

After they had already finished the first episode , it was already quarter past ten. 

" one more episode and then we go to bed?" Nathalie pleaded. 

"Sure thing, darling" he said as he gave her a kiss on her nose. 

Once they were halfway through the second episode, they had both began to yawn, they were both on the edge of just drifting off to sleep. 

"Why don't we stop here, and head off to bed?"

" agreed. Well, goodnight, see you in the morning"

"Nat, what are you doing, you're coming to bed with me, it's not like we are going to do anything anyway, and if so, we are together now, so it's alright"

" we are?"

"Oh, well I guess I didn't actually ask you, but Nathalie sancoeur, can I please have your permission to be your boyfriend and you my girlfriend?"

" of course you can! Aren't you sweet" she said as she wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed him with all her might. 

"And aren't you strong!" He chuckled. 

"Come on, lets go to bed you child" she teased as she walked past him into his bedroom


	9. Chapter 9

Once they had brushed their teeth and Nathalie's hair, they climbed into bed together, and lay down facing each other. 

" goodnight, darling" he said as he wrapped his arms around her, and closed his eyes. 

" goodnight" she said between yawns. 

As they drifted off to sleep they both knew today was the best day in history. 

\---------------

As they woke up the next morning, Nathalie was being her usual stubborn self, times ten, and not wanting to get up and go. 

"Nathalie, please wake up, we really don't need to be late on a Monday morning"

"Hhhmmmhhmm!"

" please, do it for me!"

"Ssshhhh, I'm sleeping!"

" fine, you asked for it" he said as he jumped on top of her and started tickling her sides. 

"Noo! S-stop, please, I-I'm up now!"

"There we go, now come on, I'll make flapjacks for breakfast"

"Oh yum! I'm going to go shower"

"They will be ready when you're done"

As Nathalie made her way to the bathroom with her clothes for the day ahead and her makeup bag, Alexandre started to cook the pancakes. 

Once she had finished applying her makeup and brushing out her hair she made her way out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen to join her new boyfriend. 

It felt really great to say that. 

“Mmmm, it smells delicious in here! I never knew you were a good cook?”

“Oh trust me darling, I can make pancakes and microwave meals and that’s all”

“Well then, either we become broke and buy microwave meals for the rest of our lives or we can learn how to at least cook pasta” she chuckled. 

“I think that would be great” he said as he walked around to the other side of the counter and wrapped his arms around his new girlfriend. 

It felt good to say that. 

Once they had eaten their breakfast and drank their coffees they gathered up all of their files and tablets and made their way down to the car. 

“Thank you for last night, really, it was fun, I enjoyed every last bit, and mind you, you are an excellent pancake maker” she said as she pecked him on the cheek as they drove off. 

“Thank you, I loved it as well, just for next time let’s actually try and keep our eyes open to finish at least a full episode”

“Oh well, it gives me an excuse to see you”

“You’ll be needing excuses to get yourself out of seeing me, if we keep on repeating last nights escapade”

“I highly doubt that”

“Oh well, here’s your stop” he said as he parked the car outside. 

“It’s alright I have keys, you can go inside the gate, it’s easier for me to carry everything”

“Sure thing darling”

Little did they know, that Gabriel was watching them from his slightly tinted windows, as he was walking through the mansion. 

He had heard the gate open and had gone to say good morning to Nathalie, but as he walked past the many sets of windows he realized that the car that had just pulled up was not her car, unless she had gotten a new car over night, this one was somebody's completely different vehicle. 

He stopped and stared out of the window to see who the hell was here. 

He could be over thinking it, it could just be Nathalie in an Uber, but he saw no reason for her to be in one, if something had happened she would have told him. 

As he watched for a short period of time he suddenly got the fright of his life. 

Out of the car stepped two people, Nathalie and that weird guy who was apparently ‘just an acquaintance’, who she met at the fashion show. 

“Have a good day darling, I’m going to miss you” he said as he hugged her. 

“You to, but I’ll miss you more”

“I love you”

“I love you too”

And to Gabriel’s horror they leaned in and met in a sweet lip lock. 

With a bit more than just a peck. 

This was not happening, it couldn’t be, he loved Nathalie, he had finally realized what was right in front of him this whole time, but he was too late, he had just lost his chances to date the woman of his dreams, a woman who had managed to bump Emilie down to second place and had earned the spot of first and foremost in his life. 

This couldn't be happening, he had to do something, and do something now!

Once he had finished his mini panic attack, he had turned back around just in time to watch the couple break apart and depart to their respective jobs. 

As he was making his way downstairs, he watched as Nathalie walked in, through the big double doors with slightly swollen lips. 

"Good morning Nathalie" 

"Ah!... good morning sir" she stumbled as she got a fright. 

"Are you alright? You look tired"

"Oh no sir, I'm perfectly fine, just an early start this morning"  
\----------  
During the day Nathalie's phone kept on vibrating every few minutes. 

And whenever she checked it, it would always be an I love you, text or, I miss you, text from Alexandre. 

She wanted to respond, but one of the main rules of the company was no unimportant messaging unless work was finished. 

She didn't have time, she was planning for the next show, which was going to be held in the next few days. 

There was no time for love.   
\------------

As the day was drawing to a close, Alexandre had offered to pick up Nathalie from work and take her home. 

She had agreed once she was finished writing out the final seating plans. 

At five o'clock promptly, Nathalie packed up her things and made her way out the doors. 

"Good evening mr Agreste"

"Have a good night Nathalie" he said as he walked with her to the double doors and discreetly watched as Alexandre pulled up. 

"Are you catching an uber?, you know that I would happily take you home instead" he said knowing full well who was in the car. 

"Oh no, it's just a... friend"

Gabriel had to do something, this shouldn't be happening. 

“Thank you Gabriel, don’t bother standing out here in the cold, go back inside, I’ll be fine” she said as she made her way down the driveway and out onto the street. 

It shouldn’t be like this. 

“Ugh! If only I could just admit to her and tell her how I feel!” He told himself, as he closed the doors and headed off inside to go mourn in his heart broken state.


	10. Chapter 10

Today was the day of the fashion show. 

It was going to be held at Galeries LaFayatte, one of the places that Alexandre had taken Nathalie to,on their day out. 

Luckily today Nathalie hadn’t been put in charge of managing models and making sure everything ran smoothly. 

She was only in charge of the supervision of Adrien when he was in the green rooms waiting to walk out into the runway. 

Today she had it easy. 

Which was somehow beneficial to her so she could spend more time with Alexandre. 

But little did she know, that Gabriel had know about this and was able to change the document and put Alexandre in charge of organizing the wings. 

This would make sure he was too preoccupied to go and look for Nathalie. 

Which meant she would be safe out of his grasp. 

————-

In the morning he watched them arrive together as they got out of his car and walked up the red carpet, that was later meant to be filled with guests, and as they entered the building, giving eachother a sweet kiss and holding a loving gaze as they bid eachother goodbye as they made their way off to their respective companies. 

He was fuming. 

How dare that Alexandre guy touch his Nathalie. 

She was his and his only. 

Throughout the day he had to keep reminding himself that everything would be fine because of his little switch over. 

As long as they didn’t see each other during they day it would be absolutely fine. 

Well... until lunch break came. 

—————-

After Nathalie had finished preparing everything in the green room and replying to so last minute emails, she checked her watch and decided it was time for lunch. 

She picked up her handbag and made her way to the stage wings to find Alexandre. 

When she got there she had spent a good ten minutes trying to look for him. 

She had been looking for ages until she had come up behind the right side curtain and had found him head deep inside a box filled with stage equipment and all the other necessary necessities. 

“Having fun there, I see?”

“How long have you been standing here for” he said with a fright. 

“Long enough to know that you have a very cute ass”

“Do I now? Hmmm Nathalie?” He said as he got up and slowly walked towards her. 

“Y-yes “ she said as she started to loose all of her confidence and instead gained total and utter love struck embarrassment. 

“Well then, that makes two of us” he said as he pulled her in by her waist for a passionate kiss and moved his hand down her body, but before he could go any further Nathalie slapped his hand away and gave him a smirk. 

“Aren’t we flirty today?”

“Well, I haven’t seen you the whole day! I’ve been deprived of your touch for way too long”

“Oh well, why don’t you come out to lunch with me until the show actually starts?”

“I would love to darling”

“Well then, come along”

As they walked out of the grand building and to Alexandres car it was a lot colder outside than it was this morning. 

"Ok, let's get going, I'm freezing over here"

"Sure thing love, where shall we go?"

"Can we please go back to that little patisserie that we walked to, the day we met?"

"Perfect choice" he said as he pecked her on the cheek and drove off. 

Once they had arrived they were welcomed and seated very quickly out of the cold. 

They had both decided to get warm pasta bowls and a tart for afterwards. 

Once they had finished their meal, they made their way out, back to the car and drove off back to the show. 

"Do you want to help me in the green room during my shift and I can come and help you backstage? That way we won't be separated "

"And this is why I love you, you really are the brains of this relationship "

"I love you"

"I love you more"

"Now come on, lets make sure the green room is completely ready and have a bit of down time until the real mayhem starts"

"Yes ma'am "

"Aren't you funny" she said sarcastically as she flicked him on the nose and dragged him to the green room. 

Once they were inside they had about half an hour until the green room was to be filled with models and the smell of heavy cologne and perfume. 

After making sure every railing and vanity were perfect, Nathalie and Alexandre were tired already. 

"Well, a little hard work never hurt anyone"

"I beg to differ, I feel tense and wound up for some reason"

"Well why don't I help you to relax" Alexandre said with a smirk as he walked up to her. 

"That would be nice, now wouldn't it" she said smirking, as she walked into the back of the wall and became trapped between Alexandres toned arms. 

"Just relax my darling" he whispered as he melted into her and kissed her softly. 

During their little kissing session they had both turned a relaxing kiss into a hot and steamy one. 

At this rate all of their clothes would be lying on the floor if they didn't have to wait for models and designers to arrive. 

Nathalie had never felt so happy in her life. 

"Nathalie, do you by any chance have th-" asked Gabriel as he opened the door and gazed upon the sight in front of him. 

He had just walked in on his assistant, who he loved with his whole heart, vigorously kissing the PA of one of his biggest competitors, who happens to also be her boyfriend. 

That kissing was meant for him. 

The title of being known as her boyfriend was his. 

"A-a Sir... this is ... A-Alexandre, he's the..."

"Hello there mister agreste, I'm Alexandre, Executive PA for Louis Vuitton, and your wonderful assistants boyfriend, if I do say so myself" he cut in after Nathalie's stammered explanation. 

"I-I see that mr Alexandre, if you don't mind, I would like my assistant back for a few minutes, and then she is all yours" it hurt him to say that, he wanted to keep her, he never wanted another man to touch her. 

She was his Nathalie. 

"So sir, what was it that you needed me for?"

"I-i just came to a-ask you if you had an extra copy of the schedule and layout for tonight"

"Oh, alright. Here take this one, Alexandre has one that I'll use" she said as she handed him her copy of the schedule. 

"Thanks Nat" he said as he leaned himself a little bit too close for Nathalie's comfort. 

"Thank you sir, I hope you enjoy the show"  
\--------------

"We have five minutes until the first models start to arrive, how about we pick up from where we left off?"

"How about you come home with me after the show and maybe if I feel like it, we can pick up from where we left off, and maybe even carry on.   
Hmmm, how does that sound, Alex?" She said as she walked her finger up his chest whilst giving him a cheeky smirk. 

"Music to my ears Ma Cherie" he whispered into her ear as he gave her a quick peck and walked off to grab the seating arrangements for the models. 

Once they had both managed to organize everyone in the green room and set up for the show, they made their way to the wings and waited for the show to start. 

As the lights came on, on stage Nathalie and Alexandre were put in charge of sending out the first half of the models and then their job was done. 

After they had both finished their respective jobs they would be allowed to go home. 

Once they had sent out the last model they made their way off stage and back outside the building. 

The temperature had dropped immensely, it was 9:30pm and it had gone down to 2 degrees already. 

As they made a dash for the car, Nathalie had nearly slipped on the thin layers of ice that were scattered around the ground and Alexandre had nearly tripped over his own feet making sure he didnt slip. 

Once they had gotten into the car they turned the air conditioner on to the highest it could go and drove off home as fast as they could. 

After driving in the warm car for about ten minutes had eventually arrived at Alexandres parking lot. 

Once they had gotten out they made their way to the elevator and went up to his apartment. 

"I'm not feeling awfully hungry, I have some cheese and biscuits, we can easily make a snack out of that. What do you say?"

"Perfect, just what I felt like"

"Well then, let's finish The Crown and have our snack before bed"

"Hey, Alex, I love you with my whole heart, really I do, but if you don't mind, tonight I'd like to be in my own bed at home"

"That's perfectly fine then, I'll come over to you"

"No, I'm sorry no, I'd rather just like to be alone tonight, I'm really tired and I have work to do, but I can pick you up tomorrow morning"

"Alright fine, but one thing before you go, why dont we pick up from where we left off?" He said as he pulled her in by her waist and touched noses. 

And with one simple nod from Nathalie they were in full swing. 

The kiss had started to get deeper and more heated. 

Nathalie had started to become hot and flustered. 

But before she could break away for air and to have her own space, Alexandre had picked her up and taken her to his bedroom. 

Nathalie wasn't in the mood for such activity now, she wanted to protest and ask him to not go any further, but unfortunately for her, Alexandre had planted his lips back onto hers as they fell into another lovesick trance. 

For the moment Nathalie was enjoying herself, she loved such intimate times. 

Until she felt Alexandres hand wonder down her body to her stomach. 

-" no, not now, I want to go home"- Nathalie said to herself. 

\----------------

Back at the agreste mansion Gabriel had woken up with a slight pain in his chest, where his miraculous sat.   
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Hey everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the story so far, just wanted to let everyone know that I’m going on camp until Friday so I won’t be able to answer any comments or post another chapter until then.   
💖


	11. Chapter 11

As Gabriel tunes in to the holder of such emotion he is taken back. 

It's Nathalie. 

\--------------------

"Mhmm, Alexandre, no, please can we stop for now, I really need to get back" she said with a hum of resentment. 

"Well how about we go for a quickie and then I'll take you home?"

"No, id like to home now thank you"

"I don't think so darling" he purred as he gripped her wrists and held them above her head as he straddled her. 

"Please Alex!"

"If you could stop struggling we could get this over with a lot faster my dear Nathalie"

\--------------  
It was Nathalie. 

It was fear. 

And regret 

And even a hint of embarrassment with almost a bit of shame. 

Something was clearly not right, he only ever felt her emotions when she was really vulnerable. 

\------------------

"Alexan-" she wasn't able to finished her sentence before Alexandre had smashed his lips against hers whilst pulling on her hair. 

\--------------

No. 

The emotions had risen. 

He needed to find her, and to find her fast. 

As he transformed as he tried to zone in on the place she might be. 

It wasn't her apartment. 

Or even the mansion. 

It wasn't the shows venue or the roads. 

After a while of searching, he'd found her in a foreign apartment block that he had never heard about. 

He rushed out onto the rooftops and began running towards his destination. 

\------------------

As Alexandre had stripped Nathalie of half her clothing, she had wanted to go home right then and there. 

He began kissing her neck as he tried to remove the rest of her undergarments. 

She managed to struggle her hands out of his grasp as she tried to pry him off of her. It wasn't working. 

\-------------- 

as Gabriel landed on top of what seemed like the right building with the most heightened emotions, he dropped down onto the balcony and detransformed. 

Fortunately or him the windows were open. 

He managed to slip inside to try and find Nathalie. 

As he came into the main lounge area he could hear shouting and protesting. 

It was his precious Nathalie. 

"Alexandre! I thought you loved me, you would never do this to me if you really loved me!" Said Nathalie as she struggled to push him off of her. 

"Please! No, no!!!!"

Gabriel ran down the corridor to the last door, the cries and shouts were most prominent from here 

He was scared to open the door. 

No, he couldn't be scared, this was for Nathalie, the love of his life. 

As he barged in, he came face to face with a crying, struggling Nathalie and a harasser, Alexandre. 

"Gabriel" she sobbed

"How dare you, how dare you, you absolute pig, how dare you come onto a woman without her consent, how dare you harass her until she is crying for you to stop, how dare you touch my Nathalie!!!"

"Get out or I call the police!"

"And tell them what? that you were caught sexually harassing a women who happens to be the assistant of the most famous designer in Paris!"

"Leave or your previous assistant gets it!" He said as he wrapped his elbow around Nathalie's neck and held tightly, making Nathalie's breathing even harder than it was. 

"Well then you leave me no choice. "Good evening Mr Ghesquière, yes, I have a serious matter at hand, and that I have just caught your PA sexually harassing my executive assistant without her consent, I do not stand for such disgusting behavior, may I please see to him to be fired and arrested within the quarter hour? Thank you"

"You didn't!"

"Oh I did, the police forces are on their way and you have just been fired, try to escape and I will personally wring your neck with my bare hands!"

As Nathalie was still sprawled out on top of the bed, she realized the situation her and her boss were in, she quickly got up and curled into a ball. 

The bell rang and Alexandre was forcefully escorted out of his apartment and never to be seen again. 

As Gabriel slammed the door he ran back to the bedroom.   
"Nathalie! Oh my Nathalie, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I let this happen!"

"I'm fine Gabriel, he hadn't touched me yet"

" I don't care, the fact that he did what he did is despicable!" He said as he handed her her clothing and gave her a tight hug. 

Once Nathalie had managed to get dressed again she started to feel highly embarrassed that her boss had just seen her in her undergarments. 

He hugged her tighter as he felt her shaking and heard her trying to suppress her sobbing. 

“It’s alright, I’m here, let it all out”

He could feel his shirt becoming soaked through,with Nathalies salty tears, he pulled her into his arms and held her head against his chest as he whispered sweet nothings sinto her ear. 

"W-why m-m-me? I h-had finally g-gotten over y-you, and f-found someone e-else! But n-no, shit h-has t-to happen t-to me!" She sobbed harder into Gabriels chest. 

"Shhhh, it alri- wait!, me!?"

"Fuck" she whispered. 

"Nathalie?"

"Alright fine, I-I loved you, and for quite a while, until... until I met Alexandre"

"Really?!"

"Yes Gabriel, I loved you, but you were to oblivious to notice"

" this is great! Nat, I love you to!"

"No you don't"

"I do, Nathalie sancoeur, do you know how many sleepless nights I had because of you and Alexandre? I was heart broken. I thought that I had completely missed my chance"

"Oh" she said lightheartedly. 

"Come on, let's leave this hell hole. We can go back to the mansion and sit quietly. How about that?"

"Mmhmm" she said as a sound of agreement. 

" wait hold on, there's is still one thing that I do want. If this place is going to be moved out, someone may as well take it" she said as she reached into the freezer and grabbed a tub of ice cream and pulled out the draw and took two spoons. 

"You really are hilarious"

"Thank you, let's get out and go home, I would like to indulge in this sweet treat"

Once her crying had died down he had tilted her head up to look at him. 

“ hey, Nat? If you want to you can come back to the mansion and sleep there whilst you ‘recover’, how about that?”

“Thanks Gabriel, I appreciate it, but I actually just want to be at home in my own bed with my own stuff. But... if you don’t mind... could you... please... maybe... stay over with me and keep me company” she said as she spat out the last few words as fast as she could. 

“S-sure Nat, anything for you”

“Thank you Gabriel, but can we please seriously get out of here”

“Yes definitely”

“I’ll grab my stuff, my keys are on the counter, and I have clothes at my apartment from your older collections that you can use”

“You’re wonderful Nat, you know that?”

“Um thanks Gabriel” she said as she chuckled to try and cover her nerves. 

They began walking out of the apartment and down to Nathalies car. 

Gabriel could see that she was feeling uneasy, her shoulders were slumped over and her hair was down and her eyes were all glassy. 

He really felt hopeless, he wanted to say something and to comfort her, but he felt like whatever he did would trigger something inside of her. 

Once they reached her car and got inside they drove off to her apartment. 

There was the quiet tune of Falling For You by Peachy! Playing on the radio as they drive through the cold dark streets. 

As Nathalie began humming along to the tune, Gabriel listened in awe. 

“You have an amazing voice you know”

“Haha thanks but that’s not true, I can’t sing to save my life”

“Well I think you can Nat. Stop being so hard on yourself, accept you talents and successes, you deserve it all”

As they drove up into Nathalies parking spot they stopped and got out. 

As they got out Nathalie ran up to Gabriel and hugged him tightly. 

“Thank you, thank you for everything Gabriel “

“Anything for you my Nathalie”

They walked to the lift and went up to her apartment. 

As she opened the door, the sweet smell of raspberries filled air. 

She switched on her lights and went into the kitchen to prepare a small meal for her and Gabriel. 

“Hey, I hope you like microwave meals, I might be able to sing for my life but I definitely can’t cook for my life”


	12. Chapter 12

Once they had sat down at the table and finished eating they made their way to the couch and switched on the television. 

“When you want to, the boxes are in that cupboard over there, you can change into whatever you’d like, it’s mainly all of last years winter collection. I’ll be right back, I just want to change”

As Nathalie made her way back They began to flick through all of the channels and weren’t able to find anything interesting.

They were both too lazy to look for things on Netflix anyway so they just settled on the news instead. 

After a while of catching up on drama around the world and listening through the weather forecasts, Nathalie began to feel tired. 

She tried to keep her eyes open but it was no use, she began to drift off into a deep sleep. 

Gabriel was watching the television and trying not to fall back and go to bed right there on the couch, he was about to ask Nathalie if they should head off to sleep when he felt a light thump on his shoulder. 

It was Nathalie. 

She had fallen asleep and in doing so she had managed to rest her head on his shoulder whilst she breathed deeply in and out. 

Gabriel wanted to change out of his uncomfortable work clothes, but he didn’t want to disturb Nathalie. 

He had decided to lift her up and take her to her bedroom. 

He arrived in her neatly organized room and pulled back the sheets as he lay her down and took off her glasses before tucking her in. 

“Mmhmm, stay Gabriel” she whispered in her half asleep state. 

“I will, I’m just going to change” he whispered back as he made his way back to the lounge to find something to wear. 

Once he had picked out a pair of black sweat pants and a white T-shirt with the Gabriel logo on the back he made his way off to Nathalies room. 

He knew that he shouldn’t be in the same bed as her, it could remind her of earlier today. 

He went up to her bed rest and bent down and kissed her on the forehead as he said goodnight. 

“Gabriel...” Nathalie whispered as she patted the empty space next to her. 

Gabriel felt like this just wasn’t right. 

But he loved Nathalie like no other. 

‘No, it’s just platonic, nothing is going to happen, stop it, you’re a grown man who should not be having thoughts like this, especially when it’s of your assistant who you are madly in love with who has had the worst possible day of her life. Grow up Gabriel’ he said to himself. 

As he got under the covers he rolled over onto his side and closes his eyes. 

After a while he could feel shifting in the bed and then the smell of raspberries filled his nose. 

He cracked open one of his eyes and saw that Nathalie had made herself comfortable with her head in the crook of his neck. 

He knew that this didn't mean anything but it didn't stop him from hoping that I could and hopefully would one day. 

As he breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo he managed to drift off back to sleep and slept soundly until the morning.   
\-------------------

It was 9am, they were meant to start work at 7. 

Gabriel had woken up to the harsh sunlight burning the lids of his eyes. 

He sat up with a jolt and reached for his phone to check the time. 

In doing so, Nathalie's head fell from his shoulder and hit the pillows with a thud, causing her to wake up with a slight screech. 

Gabriel was frantically reaching for his glasses so he could check the time. 

It read 9:02. 

It was 9 o'clock, he was meant to start work two hours ago, but instead hhe was sleeping with his assistant. 

"Gabriel, are you alright?" Nathalie asked hoarsely 

"I'm all good Nat, I've decided to cancel our working day, you need your rest and I'm useless without you anyway" he said as he gazed over at Nathalie and her bed head, his eyes slipped down to look at her shoulder, the top of her collar bones and shoulder peeked out of her grey sweatshirt. 

'Snap out of it Agreste! She's your assistant! Who is going through a hard time, she doesn't need you thinking inappropriate thoughts about her on top of all that!'

He scolded himself as he got back into bed as she rested her head into the crook of his neck. 

As she was drifting off back to sleep, Gabriel began to run his fingers through her soft sweet smelling hair. 

He really did love this woman. 

And he wanted her to know that. 

A few hours later he woke up again to the sound of his cellphone ringing. 

He fumbled around again for his glasses, as he picked up his phone adriens name was displayed across the screen. 

"Hello, father?"

"Yes adrien"

"It's half past eleven and you're not home and neither is Nathalie, are you two alright, did something happen?!"

"Don't worry adrien, everything's alright, I have cancelled our work day,but the real question is why aren't you at school?"

"It's our lunch break now father"

"Oh god! What is the time?!"

"I've already told you, it's half past eleven!"

"Oh god, alright adrien, enjoy your day, bye!"  
\---------

"Nat, Nat, Nathalie! Wake up, its midday!"

"I'm up!"

"Oh sorry. Coffee?" He said with a goofy smile. 

"Um sure, thanks"

'What the hell, who is this man and what has he done with Gabriel agreste? Why did he smile at me? Why is he being so nice?'

"Coffees ready!"

"Oh well, let's take advantage of this rare behavior" she whispered to herself as she walked through to the kitchen. 

“Morning Gabriel, how’d you sleep?”

“Forget about me, what about you Nathalie, are you sure that you’re alright? Did you sleep fine? Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine Gabriel, just a bit weary, other than that I am all good” she said as she made her way around the kitchen to stand next to him. 

"If you say so, are you feeling up to going out for a nice lunch?"

"Oh, it's twelve o'clock already! Well then skip breakfast and let's get ready for lunch"

"I'll wait for you and then I'll stop by the mansion to put something presentable on"

"For heavensake Gabriel, you always look presentable, even in sweatpants and bed hair" she said as she ran her hand through his messy locks. 

"Quite the charmer arent we, ms sancoeur?"

"No! What? no, me? Never! I was just teasing!" She said as she ran off to the bathroom to get washed and ready for lunch.


	13. Chapter 13

Once Nathalie had finished getting ready she walked out into the lounge and grabbed her bag and her keys. 

"Wow, you look wonderful Nathalie"

"It's just casual wear" she said trying to hide her blush. 

She was wearing a pair of high waisted black slacks with a creme knit jersey and her beige trench coat paired with her black boots. 

As Nathalie locked her apartment door they made their way down to the car and drove off to the mansion. 

It was about 12:30 once they arrived, Gabriel had gone upstairs to shower and get ready whilst he left Nathalie on the coach to wait. 

But she had other plans, she knew Gabriel would probably take a while, so she took advantage of her time and walked off into the atelier and logged onto her computer to try and finish some short emails whilst she could. 

She had managed to get halfway through her third email when she was dragged away from her desk by her chair. 

She whipped around and found that Gabriel had pulled her away and was giving her a look of - please care to explain-

"I thought i said today was our day off?"

"Yes... but I knew you would take long so I thought why not get some work done in the meantime whilst I wait" she innocently smiled up at him. 

"Come on, can't you have just one day of no work and just relax?"

"Nope, sorry, I'm Nathalie Sancoeur, my name literally means heartless, and any heartless person out there is either a stone cold human being, or as strict as a board or and absolute workaholic. Guess which one I am"

"All three?" He said with a cheeky grin as he backed away slowly knowing what was coming. 

"How dare you, how dare you Gabriel agreste! I will get you for this! Mark my words!" She said as she switched off her computer and jumped up and made a brisk walk to the front door. 

"Nat! Nathalie wait!, I was joking, you're not heartless at all, you're a wonderful human being! Yes you are a bit of a workaholic, but aren't we all in this business?"

"Oh believe me, I know you were joking, I'm just pushing your buttons, I'd know if you were being serious, I would have reacted a lot worse than that, trust me" she laughed. 

Now come on, are we still up for lunch or not"

"Don't worry Nat, I'm starving, let's go"

As they made their way out of the driveway, they began driving to their destination on the cold icy roads of Paris. 

"So Gabriel where are we going?"

"I was thinking of surprising you, how about that?"

"Alright then, go ahead and surprise me Agreste" she teased. 

Once Gabriel had taken a sharp right and began driving down a cobbled little street, Nathalie knew where she was. 

She was hoping and praying that they weren't where she thought they were. 

He had parked the car and let her out as he walked them both over the street and onto the opposite pavement. 

They began walking down the street, and as Nathalie looked up she caught sight of the bright pink sign with white writing on it saying La Vie En Rose Pattiserie. 

It was the same place Alexandre had taken her for their first date. 

As all the memories from the last few days came flooding back she went cold. 

She didn't want to remember, she wanted to forget. 

Gabriel had felt her tense up right next to him, he wondered if it was just the cold, or if something else had set her mind off track. 

"Nat? Are you alright?"

"Mhmm, I'm fine, don't worry"

"No you're not, I don't believe you for one second, I've know you long enough to know that even though you can hide your emotions well, you can't hide them well enough from me"

"Well, nothing's wrong of such, but.. this was the p-place... that a-Alexandre took me...f-for our first date" she said as she lowered her head down to stare at her shoes. 

"Oh no! I'm so sorry nat, I didn't know, please forgive me, if you'd like we can go somewhere else?"

"No way, I love this place, I'm not going to let some memories from the past destroy a wonderful lunch"

"Alright, I'm glad to hear that" he said as he pecked her on the cheek and led her inside. 

When they stepped inside they were greeted by the kind staff and the warm aroma of baked goods and fresh greens. 

They were taken off to their seats and passed menus as they hung up their coats and sat down ready to start browsing. 

After a while of flicking through the menu they had decided to share a specific charcuterie board, with a tartlet of their own choice for afterwards. 

Whilst they were waiting for their food Gabriel had had a question inside of him that he still needed to be answered. 

"Nat, you didn't really answer my question directly, when I told you that I loved you and asked if you'd like to start up something new"

"Hmm" she nodded in approval. 

"Well I was wondering what would your answer be?"

"Look Gabriel, I love you, I really do, and I have for a while now, but it's really hard to move on when I had just gotten over you, had started a wonderful new relationship that turned upside down, and then to have the extra stress of managing the business and then on top of all that to choose wether I'd like to be in a committed relationship with you. It's just too much to handle in such a short period of time, I promise you, if you give me some time to get over the incidents that have happened over the past few days, that I shall give you an answer to your question"

"Alright Nat, but I do want you to know, that I am always here, whenever you need me I'll be there, and I don't want you to ever forget that I love you, and will wait as long as it takes, even if you decide to back out, I will still love you"

"Thanks Gabe, in some time I'll be sure to love you more"

He smiled as he lifted up her left hand and kissed her on top of her palm. 

Once their food had arrived they talked about the upcoming lines and the previous designs some companies had come up with, which ended up with them talking badly about Louis Vuitton and their atrocious sense of creativity. 

That had earned a decent laugh out of the both of them, which had definitely lightened the mood and pushed away the awkwardness of the previous conversation. 

Once they had finished their meals they walked up to the counter, paid and strolled back outside into the crisp winters air. 

Getting back into the car felt like sitting in a freezer, Gabriel had turned on the AC to full heat and drove off back to the mansion. 

When they arrived back to the mansion they made a brisk walk up the stairs and into the house, it was much warmer inside the marbled walls than outside in the thick snow. 

They had decided to grab some coffee in the kitchen and then to go and sit back down on the couches in the lounge. 

As they were making their coffee, Nathalie heard the doors opening, she knew that it was adrien arriving home from after school. 

"Nathalie! Father! I'm home!"

"In here son!"

"As adrien arrived at the door to the kitchen he gazed at the sight in front of him and remembered that his father and Nathalie were together last night. 

"So... did you both have fun last night?" He said with a little smirk. 

"What on earth do you mean adrien?!" Said Nathalie knowing full well what he meant. 

"Don't play dumb with me Nat, I'm not an innocent 12 year old anymore"

( PSA adrien is like 16/17 )

"For heavensake adrien, I went over to Nathalie because there was a bit of an incident with an ex-friend and she was in need of my help" he said with a hinting tone. 

"Oooh, I'm so sorry Nathalie. Why didn't you call me father, I could have helped, instead of finding out this morning that you had slept with your assistant "

"We didn't do anything together!"

"But you slept with her"

"No I di-..."

"Mmhmm" adrien hummed with a smirk plastered onto his face. 

"Alright we did sleep together..."

"But it wasn't like that! Adrien, your father and I like to keep everything strictly business "

"Alright, whatever you say" he said as he walked away smiling to himself. 

“But please, make sure you use protection kids!” He said as he ran upstairs to his room. 

“ADRIEN!” Both adults shouted after him. 

That night Adrien was in his room thinking about his father and Nathalie, we wanted them to be together, he knew that they both had feelings for eachother, but they were both too blind to see it. 

He had decided that the next morning he got to school he was going to rope his friends into helping him make a plan and get them together.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! I won’t be able to reply to many comment today bc it’s my birthday!!!  
> But thank you guys all so much for all the love and support, I hope you enjoy 💕

That night once Nathalie had driven home, Gabriel felt alone. 

He hadn't felt like this in years, he felt truly and utterly alone, he didn't know what to do with himself. 

He had designed,he had taken a boiling hot shower, he even read a book, but nothing seemed to be working. 

He was sitting in the middle of his bed staring at the wall. 

Should he call Nathalie?

Would she be asleep now?

Would she be angry if he called her?

Was he being too clingy?

He had so many questions but he couldn't seem to answer them 

He was too indecisive. 

He thought about transforming and going for a walk, but it was too cold for that and the roofs were icy. 

He needed to do something. 

So he decided to walk downstairs to the kitchen and grab a snack. 

He walked down through the dark empty hallways listening to the sounds of his feet passing along the freezing cold tiles. 

When he arrived in the kitchen he wished he had Nathalie there with him. 

Late nights in the kitchen with her were something else. 

They would always seem to get into deep meaningful conversations whenever they were in the kitchen at 3 am and they would always be able to add a bit of flirtatious talking and banter within the mix, which made Gabriel fall harder and harder for her. 

Once he had grabbed a slice of toast and an apple he made his way back upstairs. 

He switched on the television in his room and began flicking through every single one of the channels in hope of finding something. 

His thumb was starting to get tired with all the flipping, so he decided to sit on some random channel that just helped to fill out the quiet background noise 

It was nearly 5 am after he had finished eating his apple and staring absentmindedly at the television screen until he began to feel a bit of a headache. 

He was feeling someone's emotions. 

Even though he never used the miraculous or wore it, he could still feel little slivers of emotion. 

Every so often if the emotions were extremely high he would sometimes get a headache. 

But it hardly ever happened, but when it did it really did feel uncomfortable. 

His headache was beginning to feel as if someone had taken a needle and threaded it through his head, it was becoming unbearable. 

If he was still trying to get emilie back this would have been the strongest Akuma yet. 

He couldn't deal with this pain anymore. He zoned in to find out who this person was and what was so bad. 

After a while of trying to find out who it was, he found them. 

His headache stopped, his breath hitched and his heart began to race. 

It was Nathalie. 

Her emotions where running wild, it felt like she was definitely in distress. 

He couldn't bare the thought of her suffering in any sort of way. 

He transformed and ran out onto the icy rooftops making sure as to not slip and fall. 

He arrived at Nathalie's apartment and dropped down onto the balcony of her bedroom. 

Fortunately it was unlocked. 

He opened it up and made his way to her bedside. 

He looked over at Nathalie and he could just make out the faint outline of her face and the strained look she had plastered on. 

She was trembling in her bed as she made looks of discomfort and small whimpering noises. 

He detransformed and ran to the light switch and flicked on the lights. 

She sat up with a scream as soon as the lights switched on and looked around frantically whilst she held onto the edges of the duvet with trembling hands. 

Gabriel ran to her side and put his arms around her as he got onto the bed. 

She was shaking and breathing unevenly. 

Once she had gotten over the initial fright of seeing him she threw her arms around him and began sobbing. 

"Shhhh nat, it's alright, I've got you, you're safe, don't worry"

He was worried about her, what had happened?

What had happened in her sleep that had given him such a head splitting headache?

He had never seen her even remotely distressed. 

He felt scared for her, he didn't know what was going on. 

He could feel her body trembling and her icy cold hands holding him around his torso as she wept. 

He was holding her tightly as he stroked her hair and whispered into her ear that everything was alright and reminded her to breath. 

After a while she began to stop shaking so violently and her sobs had died down immensely. 

"Nat, are you alright?" He said with concern as he lifted up her chin towards him. 

Her face was tired and scared. 

Her eyes were red. 

And her cheeks were pale. 

"What happened?" He said with concern. 

"I-It was j-just a nightmare" she said. 

"No it wasn't, there is no way a nightmare can give me so much of a killer headache that I could feel my head pulsing, even without my miraculous. I could feel your emotion without any magic Nathalie, it was worse than a nightmare, and I know it Nat"

"I-I'm fine g-Gabriel"

"No you're not my dear. Now tell me what really happened"

"You're right Gabriel, I-I'm not fine, I'm not f-fine at all, I'm traumatized.   
I'm scared, and I-i'm anxious.   
I thought that I had finally f-forgotten about Alexandre and left all of our b-bad memories behind.   
But obviously not.  
I just had a-a nightmare that I relived everything we had gone through, but the l-last part just didn't have you coming in to save me.   
I- I was trapped, and he wouldn't l-let me go, I struggled and screamed a-and nothing happened, he went further and further.   
H-He threatened to hurt me even more if I made a s-sound.  
I was scared g-Gabriel, I wanted you, I needed y-you.   
I kept on calling your name, ignoring his threats, until he hurt me more, I screamed for your help but nothing happened, until he hurt me more and then the lights switched on, and you were here. I g-got such a fright because I thought it w-was him, I didn't know what t-to do."

"Oh no Nathalie, I'm so sorry" he said as he squeezed her tighter and pulled her in front of him so he could wrap his arms around her waist and rest his chin in the nape of her neck. 

"I'm sorry for waking you"

"You have nothing to be sorry about, and anyway I was still awake"

"You should have called me, even though it's 5 in the morning,you know I would have answered"

"I had totally forgotten everything, I was just so deep in thought that I had lost track of everything."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Well... to be brutally honest with you, I was feeling lonely, and I just... wished.. that you were... there with me"

"You do?"

"I do Nathalie, I think for a while now, I've become dependent on you and your company, and I may be even more in love with you than before"

"I...I think I love you more"

"But I know I love you most" he said as he squeezed her hands and leaned into her. 

Nathalie squeezed back as she pulled him down with her, to lie on the bed, as he leaned in closer. 

Until Gabriel's cell phone began to ring. 

They tried to ignore it as Gabriel leaned on top of Nathalie inching towards her face, until the ringing became to much. 

He moved away and grabbed the phone. 

It was adrien. 

"Father, I was having breakfast this morning and noticed that Nathalie wasnt here to give me my schedule"

"Oh...um.. about that adrien, y-you can... um.. its fine you can have a free day today"

"What's the matter father, are you alri- gasp- no way, do not tell me where I think you are"

"What do you mean adrien?" 

Little did Gabriel know, that adrien had just been dropped off at school and had told his friends about his father and his assistant and was now calling them on speaker phone. 

"Oh you sly fox! You and Nathalie are together again! Oh I hope I'm not interrupting anything?!"

"Um... no we're not, she's a-at her apartment"

"Yes! With you in it as well!, I can see your location"

"Hmph, fine, yes I'm with Nathalie, but only because she had a terrible nightmare, so I had to come around to comfort her and then I had a shaking,crying, screaming Nathalie in my arms"

"Mhmm, so she was really enjoying your time together,hey father, if you had her trembling and screaming in your grasp" he snickered into the cellphone, as the rest of his friends tried to hold back their laughter. 

"Adrien Agreste! How dare you make such inappropriate jokes, she was literally having a panic attack in her sleep, you need to take this seriously!"

"Sorry father, but hey, please do not forget to use protection!" He said as he ended the call and burst out laughing. 

"I'm sorry about that, he just wanted to know where you were this morning"

"Ah! No, I'm late again!"

"Don't worry, so am I" he chuckled. 

Nathalie ran to her bathroom to get ready for work without another word

And now he was alone all over again.


	15. Chapter 15

" so, do you see what I mean!!!" Adrien said to his friends. 

"Definitely my dude, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a new member of the household in the next 9 months"

"Exactly!!! I just wish that they would realize their feelings for one another, they can be so blind sometimes. But that had me thinking, and I was wondering if you'd like to help me get them together!"

"Yes! Operation get adriens father to notice his love for his assistant is a go" Alya squealed 

" awww how cute is that, what are you thinking to do adrien?" Questioned marinette 

"I haven't really thought much of it, so that's why I'm needing you guys to help me"

"I think one of the first things to do is to get them alone" said alya 

" well I have a pretty big show coming up, that they will be attending, so what we could do is find them an empty changing room or green room, shove them inside and lock the door"

"Sounds pretty hectic my dude, but I'm in"

"I'll get you guys all backstage passes and then we can try and find them when the models change over, that way the corridors will be filled with people so it will be easy for us to just run past them and push them into a room"

"Only problem is, how do we lock it without the keys?" Said marinette 

"Backstage there is a whole entire rack of hooks with each individual key arranged in alphabetical order that hangs on the wall, we could always go there before the show and find the corridor keys"

"Perfect guys, now how about we go back to marinettes and discuss this even more and make a full proof plan" said alya as she grabbed up her bags and made her way to the door. 

\--------------------------------

Back at Nathalie's apartment she had finished getting ready and just downed her second cup of coffee as she grabbed her keys and pulled Gabriel along with her, so they could drive back to the mansion. 

"Come on Gabriel! We new to her to work, we're already late and I probably have an overflowing inbox and stacks of papers to file and sort! So get your ass in my car and let's go!" She said frantically. 

Nathalie was not one to be late, she hated it, she would always make sure to be at least an hour or 15 minutes early for any occasion. 

Once they and pulled up into the driveway Nathalie bolted up the stairs and left Gabriel still sitting in the car. 

She had forgotten all of her stuff in the back seats, he opened up the backdoor and grabbed her bags and files and then pushed the door closed as he made his way up the stairs. 

Once he had arrived in the atelier, all he could hear was the sounds of furiously fast typing on the keyboard and a shuffle of papers. 

"Gabriel, I can't find my tablet or my assignment from yesterday!"

"It's here nat, all in your bag in a plastic sleeve and a case, just take a moment to breath, you haven't missed any work, and even if you did, you'd be absolutely fine" he said as he came around to her desk to give her, her things and rest a hand on her shoulder as he gave a small squeeze. 

She turned around in her chair and gave him a small smile. 

The memory of yesterday came flowing through her head of when he was leaning into her about to kiss her until adrien had called and he had forgotten all about it. 

Should she try again?

Was it a once off thing?

Well, he said he loved her, so it should be ok... right?

-come on Nathalie, he said that he loves you and you love him back, just kiss him already! You're wasting your time, hurry up and do it! Come on, one...two...three and go-

Gabriel was still staring into her turquoise eyes, wondering if he should initiate the first move, he kept on telling himself that she loved him and that it nearly happened already last night, they both loved each other, so why must it be so hard!

-for heaven sake Gabriel! Man up and do it! It's just a simple kiss, nothing extraordinary, just lean in and go, come on, one...two...three...-

"Nathalie, I want to kiss you" he whispered 

She could feel his hot breath on her lips as she looked into his eyes and gave an approving glance. 

"Then kiss me Gabriel" she whispered as she intertwined her arms around his neck and pulled him close. 

She ran her delicate fingers through his blond locks as they dove into their own world of passion. 

The kiss was only a few seconds long, but it felt like an eternity. 

As they broke apart they stood still, with millimeters between their lips and hot breaths filling the surrounding air. 

"Can I have my answer now?" Asked Gabriel 

"Mmhm... I don't know, I don't think I'm fully convinced, let's see" she said as she dove back in for a kiss. 

This one was longer and held a lot more meaning to it, Nathalie knew what her answer to his question was a long time ago, but she just needed a bit of time. 

"I think I will have to say yes gabe"

"You know what? I love you Nathalie sancoeur, there are not enough words that I could use to describe you and your beauty, you are my other half, you have helped me through thick and thin, you have been there for me whenever I've called, you are heaven on earth to me, and I wouldn't have it any other way, I love you"

"But I will always love you more"

"But I have always loved you most"

Nathalie's eyes were filled with joyful tears, she flung herself into Gabriel's arms as she squeezed him tight. 

He ran his fingers over her long black locks and kissed the top of her head. 

"Should we tell adrien about us" 

"Not yet nat, let's give ourselves some time to become familiar with our relationship first"  
\--------------------------------

But little do they know that adrien and his friends had come home after going back to marinettes and had come inside , and had watched this whole thing play out right I front of their eyes. 

" Scoop!! I just got that entire fiasco on video!" Said alya 

"Send it on the group!!" They all whispered as they walked past to go up stairs to adriens room. 

"Uh... um afternoon adrien" greeted his father. 

" so father, how's work been today, anything interesting happen?" He said raising his eyebrows at Nathalie. 

"Oh not much, I was just talking to Nathalie about our upcoming fashion show"

"Well then, I'm sorry to interrupt such a special moment, have fun you two, and remember..."

"Adrien agreste!!! If you dare say what I think you're going to say..." he wasn't able to finish off his sentence as they ran off upstairs and locked the door. 

"Well, I mean adrien doesn't have the worst idea" said Nathalie 

"Nathalie!? Not you too!"

"Don't worry gabe, I'm just teasing, love you"

"Love you too"  
\--------------------------------

Thank you guys so much for reading this book, I want to start a new one ASAP, so if anyone has any prompts please share them down in the comments below. 

Love you all!!! 😘

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave gabenath ideas or prompts in the comments 💖


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